Updated! Throwback Thursday: 1953-54 Topps World of Wheels #135 1911 Reeves Octoauto

A Thowback Thursday post today to show one of my favorite sets. Issued in two series in 1953-54, Topps's World on Wheels sets was part of their 1950s transportation theme, one of several sets that featured cars, planes, trains, etc. It's one of the more common car sets of the early 1950s but that doesn't make it common by any means- it took me years to hunt down more than 3 of this set. This was the second card I found, and it's one of the more unique issued in the set.

The cards were of simple design, with a colored panel, a white panel, and an illustration of vehicle in question. The majority were cars, but there were also trucks, at least one tank, a motorcycle or two, etc.

Series 2 cards are significantly rarer than series 1, I have not been able to hunt any of them down. The cards are early 50s standard size, which is slightly larger than the current size. They fit in a toploader, but not in a penny sleeve.

I would love to have seen this driving! I don't know if any Octoautos survive, I don't know how many were made. After it failed, Reeves also made a Sextoauto, which had only one set of wheels in the front, but two in the back. I don't know if any of them survive either, and I would not be surprised if it was created by removing a set of wheels from the front of the Octoauto. The early years of the automobile (pre-WWI) were a wild and occasionally wacky time, and many of the creations of that time period do not survive, which is truly unfortunate.

Luckily, we have cards like this and photos taken during the time period so they won't be forgotten.

This is the only card ever made for the Reeves company, Octoauto or otherwise, that I am aware of.

There will be lots more Throwback Thursday posts showing this set. It's one of my favorites and I've hunted them extensively. I have 129 cards from this set in my collection, and they may all get posted as Throwback Thursdays eventually!

Edit: Here are two photos of the real car as posted to the "Cars of the 1900s-1930s" Facebook page.